Fort Hays State University Women’s Soccer saw its MIAA Tournament run come to an end on Friday at the hands of Southwest Baptist. Seeded third in the tournament, the Tigers fell, 1-0, to the second-seeded Bearcats in the MIAA Semifinals.
The Tigers’ seven-match winning streak came to an end as well in the game, as FHSU (13-5-2) launched just four shots all night against a stout SBU defense. The Tigers’ one shot on goal came from Kylee Loneker, who took aim midway through the first period from 25 yards out.
SBU grabbed the lead early, as Taylor Schmidt scored an unassisted goal just 7:04 into the match. Schmidt’s goal originally looked to be a cross pass from the right corner of the box, but it snuck past Tigers’ goalkeeper Kristen Thompson into the upper left corner of the net.
That proved to be all the Bearcats needed as neither team scored the rest of the way, sealing the shutout. It was just the third time FHSU has been held scoreless all season.
Loneker had two shots for FHSU, with Kelsey Steffens and Mallory Diederich splitting the other two team shots.
Thompson picked up a season-high 12 saves for the year, keeping the Tigers within striking distance while facing 33 total shots (13 on goal).
FHSU will now await the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 10 at 4:30 p.m. to determine its NCAA Tournament status. The Tigers were seventh in all three NCAA Central Region Rankings leading up to the final rankings (released Monday) this season. Six teams advance to the NCAA Tournament.